The present invention relates to an electronic component with a timer circuit, and more particularly, to a timer circuit which may preserve its elapsed time data in the event of a failure to its power source.
Airplanes may comprise a plurality of electronic components which may be covered by a warranty program from the component manufacturer or system assembler. The warranty program may be based on a period of time from the date of component purchase. In the alternative, the warranty's lifetime may be based on total running time. For example, an airplane may comprise a plurality of circuit boards (i.e., electronic components). The circuit board may be covered under warranty for a period of 10,000 hours. In the regard, the warranty period may accrue once the circuit board is powered on. Also, the warranty period may be tolled when the circuit board is powered down. When the total accrued period of time of the circuit board equals 10,000 hours, then the warranty may be deemed to have expired for such circuit board.
To this end, the total accrued time which the circuit board was powered on may be provided by a timer circuit. The timer circuit may comprise a processor and memory wherein the processor writes the elapsed time to the memory at periodic intervals such as every one hour. The processor and memory may be powered by a power source of the circuit board. In other words, the power source of the circuit board also powers the timer circuit. However, if the power source were to fail during the time the processor writes to the memory, then the written data may be inaccurate or otherwise corrupt because the processor did not have sufficient power to write the elapsed time data to the memory for a sufficient period of time. To address the possibility of this event, the timer circuit may have a backup power supply. In other words, in the event that the circuit board power source were to fail during the processor write time, the backup power would provide additional power or the power required by the processor to write the elapsed time to memory. However, the backup power is an additional component required to be placed on or adjacent to the circuit board. Moreover, in designing an airplane, the weight of which is very sensitive, the backup power supply adds unwanted weight to the overall airplane.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide for an improved timer circuit which does not have a substantial weight impact on the overall weight of the airplane as well as other advantages.